Money, Blood, and Trials
by thesidwilson0
Summary: Jess finds herself in a tight situation after she's kicked off the post of prosecutor, before her band goes awry, and her marriage to Luke Atmey ruined by Phoenix Wright. Characters include Furio Tigre, Dick Gumshoe, and Luke Atmey.
1. Money, Blood, and Trials

I felt a vibration in my jacket pocket, which my hands were nestled in. The phone beeped as I answered, it was The Tiger.

You may ask, "Who is the Tiger?" Well I will answer all questions... right now. I am Jess "Jessi" Lex (short for hiros lex, holy law) Kaliune (I changed my name to that, the suffix -ne meaning sound. I love dance music a lot.) I'm thirty-nine and an ex-prosecutor. I lent from "Tender Lender," a shop run by notorious loan shark, Furio Tigre. I had not known about his notoriety until after I lent from him. He tried to intimidate me, at first, but I straight up told him, "I've seen scarier in court."

And that is where I am at now. I sold my suit for money, to pay off my debt, and I'm behind on the apartment. What would he want now? "Hey, youse behind on your payments, lady." My eyebrow twitched, "I'm trying as hard as I can, Mr. Tigre. I'm getting behind on things. I'm sorry." I could sense that he frowned, "Fine. But get that money in as soon as youse can." I nodded, and the phone beeped once more as I hung up. I headed towards Tender Lender, grasping what little cash (Only about $250.) that I could afford to pay off the debt in my hoodie pocket. I hesitated, my hand at the handle, looking through the glass at Tigre's satisfied face as I wrenched the door open. "Here is your payment, at least for this month. I got a new job, so things should be going up... oh and hey, visit this club tonight." I handed him a business card, for a little club called Raver's Cave. He looked at it with a slight nod, tucking it into his pocket. I turned and opened the door again, heading across the street, to the corner to buy a muffin from the family owned bakery with the five dollars I held aside for my daily snack on the way home.

Upon almost arriving home, I heard the familiar sound of a moped speeding down the street. With a restrained giggle, I jaywalked across the empty street to the apartment complex on the other side. Yes, it was illegal but the complex was not on a corner, at all. It was tucked into a whole block, only accessible by the middle of both sides. "What an impractical design." I muttered, quickly heading to my lonely, and quite dark, apartment. Flicking on the light, I saw the place had been utterly destroyed. The usually stoic coffee table was overturned on it's side, the rug covering it. My small TV was smashed in and the components ripped out, and I headed to my bedroom to see that my bed had been overturned as well! "Who woul-"

"Why hello there." I turned to briefly see a figure, but after I went blind from stabbing pain in my stomach. I screamed as loud as I could for old Mrs. Thornberry to call 911. Soon after, I was saved by the paramedics but before they took me away, I grabbed onto Dick Gumshoe's tie. "H-He did it. A-Atmey's broken loose." All I saw after was sheer blackness.

Okay, about the whole Atmey thing. Before he was found guilty of murder, we were deeply in love. It may sound like a fairy tale, but it is not. I met him before he became Ace Detective Luke Atmey, and it just kinda went on from there. I mean, I looked past that he had a gigantic nose and a magnifying glass as a monocle. He was actually a nice guy, but became a bit of a pompous jerk in public. But he saved all of the non-Ace Detective stuff for me at home. I was still a prosecutor at this time, so I had to accompany him on his excursions to these different crime scenes. In the end, it turns out he set those up himself, _and_ killed Kane Bullard for blackmailing _him_. In court, I was aside Godot to further my training, promptly breaking down when I couldn't take yelling at him, but gaining courage to prosecute him as the murderer when I found out he was just a phony. Our bonds were broken at then, when he screamed to the court, "I'm sorry for what I did, and I'm very sorry for what I'm about to do! It's over, Lady Prosecutor!"

So from then, I was stripped of my badge, being involved with a witness of two cases, and (apparently) speaking out of turn.

Waking up in the hospital, I saw Atmey handcuffed with Detective Gumshoe by his side, and a tense Furio bouncing his leg on his heel nervously. "U-Ugh..." I looked around dazedly. Morphine. "W-What happened?" All three looked up to see that I had recovered. "Oh you're alright!" Gumshoe breathed out, shaking his head with a worried smile. Tigre still looked tense, his leg bouncing faster. _He_ had to pay the bill for the hospital. "I-I'm sorry, Mr. Tigre, for setting the burden, " I breathed difficultly, "upon your shoulders. I'm sorry." He looked directly at me, nodding in understanding. "Now, Luke, why did you have to go and stab me..." I gasped softly, sitting up a little. Atmey looked at me, brown eyes full of guilt and rage. "You betrayed me..." His hands clenched into fists, his orange jumpsuit sadly fitting the large shock of blonde hair on his shaven head. "I-I'm sorry..." I looked at my hand, which was stationary as I tried to move it. Muscle relaxants? Or is it just numb? Apparently it was numb, as I ended up smacking myself in the face. I deserved that, I thought, sighing as I returned my arm to my side. I looked at Tigre, who was madly biting his lip while thinking. "M-Mr. Tigre... You came to see me, didn't you?" He looked at me, then back at the floor. The Tiger's usual roar of a voice was softened into a little purr. "Kinda." A sigh escaped past his lips, "I had to talk to youse about your debt, and what I was notified about soon after the attempted murder." For once, he sounded kind of intelligent. My doctor walked in, who turned out to be a handsome man in his early forties with cropped black hair. "Everyone, visiting hours are over. You may head back to your homes now." He turned to me, "They had to preform emergency surgery after you arrived in the E.R. Oh and that red man left this for you." He picked up a small plush tiger with a note attached to it in the loan shark's slanted handwriting. _Always remember me, in the bad times. The strength of the tiger will aid you wherever you go. Furio Tigre_. I smiled and looked at the tiger in my hand, setting it on my lap, my hand set on the head as the morphine kicked in.

I awoke to the tapping of two different feet. I recognized easily one of the loan shark. I had fumbled one to many times with what was in my pockets to pay him. The other of the detective as he waited for me to wake up. "Mmmn... who was here first?" I said as my vision cleared and focused on the two. Gumshoe pointed to Tigre, who alarmingly noticed my hand resting on the plush tiger. "You.. you've been evicted." He said with slight difficulty. "But you can stay with me for a while." I nodded, looking at Gumshoe. "Was was your connection with your assailant?" The detective demanded right away. "Don't you remember? Luke is my ex." I laughed and painfully stretched upwards, "Anyway. His motive was to get back at me for accusing him in court." Gumshoe smiled, "Thank you." He left quickly, his trench coat struggling to keep up as it flapped in the wake of his run. "Mmnn." I stretched again. "Zvarri! We're alone together." I felt my face get hot when I realized I said, "Zvarri!" I covered my mouth and closed my eyes, tears running out of the corners of my eyes. I squeezed the plush tiger close to my face and sobbed. I couldn't see through or around the tiger at all. It came to my surprise that I felt a large hand rest itself on my arm comfortingly. I looked up from the tiger, to see the Tiger standing by my bed. "I'm here." His lipped twitched a little as he resisted to smile. "There's nothing for youse to worry about, only that I'm here and I'll support you." Wow. It seems like Tigre has a soft side... "But don't tell no one about this, alright?" I nodded, touching his hand gently. "I understand." The doctor stepped in to remove Tigre and provide another pain-killing dose of morphine.

I awoke to a snoring, and snarling, Tigre seated impatiently in a chair next to the bed, his hand grasping mine. I smiled and curled my fingers around his larger ones, watching his scowling expression change to peace as soon as I gripped his hand as firm as I could. I soon dozed off back into the land of darkness, as my body still needed to rest.

So, months after, when I was recovered and good to go home (at least to my new one), I sat in my room, swinging my legs while looking at old photos of Atmey and I. His famous zvarri pose... I wiped my eye, fighting back tears. I stood, heading out the door to the detention center. Soon, Atmey showed up and I slid some photos of him and I through the slot. "I-I'm sorry. I do miss you." I looked at the desk as he looked up with a smile and said one word. "Zvarri."

Once I heard the faithful word, I covered my face and broke down, apologizing for everything that I felt I did wrong. "P-Please forgive me!" I sobbed out, my head hitting the metal desk. "I didn't mean to hurt you. I didn't mean to make you mad. I was a fool! And I didn't know it!" Atmey frowned and looked at his lap. "I'm sorry. It's all my fault." I looked up at him and bit my lip. "But Luke, you deserve it for all the bad things you did. I'm sorry." I stood and ran out out of the center, wiping my eyes away from tears.

I burst in through the door of Tigre's house, quickly stumbling and tripping over steps as I rushed to my room. I fell onto the middle of the floor, my face buried in my arms and the carpet, sobbing so hard my whole body shook. I didn't want to get up, I didn't want to eat or drink for hours. Just die. It's all I wanted to do, because I felt worthless. I heard heavy footsteps come up to my room and throw open the door. "Oh my god. What happened?" Tigre lifted me up by both of my shoulders, and I broke down on him, not caring if he was Furio Tigre or Dick Gumshoe. I just needed someone. He was taken slightly aback. I had not been this weak, ever. He sighed, wrapping his arms around my shoulders, nudging the door closed with his shoe. "Shh..." He smoothed down my hair and tilted his head to one side to get a better look. "It's alright." Furio smiled at me as I looked up from his chest, not sobbing anymore. "There you go..." He touched my cheek softly, "Now. Let's get something to eat."


	2. Freedom, Accidents, and Love

I fumbled with the key Jess gave me, my gloved hands shaking furiously. It had been so long since I ever stepped foot in her dim apartment. She had sent me there to retrieve all of her valuables and move them to my old home (which she apparently resides in now, as all of the wooden furniture and the TV had a small layer of dust.) She sent me to grab one thing. The ring I gave her days before the trial of Mask*DeMasque, and the murder trial against me.

My name is Luke Atmey, ex-Ace Detective and the creator behind Mask*DeMasque, and this is how it all went that day, when I made a horrible mistake.

After I entered, I immediately went to the partially open door of her room, picking up the small, black tinted jewelry box I had gotten her for her birthday nearly a year after we met, and peered inside. There it was, a silver band with a topaz inlay. I felt tears start to gather and my heart began to race as I looked at it. Shaking my head and blinking back the tears, I tucked it inside a pocket of my suit, starting to walk out. I heard the door open, with a sinister creak. There was a cackling of a man, and I immediately fled to the kitchen, grabbing the butcher's knife that hung from a nail above the stove. After the confrontation, I only realized that it was Jess, and I had unintentionally hurt her.

By the time the authorities arrived, my face and the bow that now hung loose were both soaked with tears of pain and apology. I screamed her name as they wheeled her away, my hands now cuffed for the third (or was it fourth?) time in my life, behind my back. The officer shoved and shoved at me, yelling for me to shut up. I wouldn't. By the time I got a look at her face, she was already under anesthesia in the ambulance. "D-Don't I get the right to see her? I didn't mean to!" Gumshoe laughed at me, "Man, if you mistook that loan shark laughing on her phone for a burglar, then I have no idea how you're going to survive in the real world, pal." I ground my teeth together, leaning my head down and popping off the magnifying glass, relaxing the eyebrow muscle. Gumshoe glanced back at me in the rearview mirror. "Now listen here, I was very anxious, and I couldn't tell that it was her phone! I'm innocent! It's a misunderstanding!"

"Yeah right." Gumshoe laughed and headed to the detention center yet again, only to outfit me in the stupid orange jumpsuit again. This was the third charge against me, although the charge for grand larceny was dropped and replaced with murder, and they wouldn't forgive me this time. I was allowed once visit to her in the hospital. We waited for hours until she woke, and when she did, my heart started to race and tears came to my eyes once more. I wasn't allowed a chance to speak. When she went under the influence of the painkiller, morphine, and fell into a drug-induced sleep, I bowed my head and cried softly, my heart aching and my hands sweating, trembling. I didn't know what to do to occupy myself at the detention center, so I requested a deck of cards. I took out the Queen of Hearts, handed the deck back to the guard, and faced the wall on the sad cot, staring at the card, only I knowing the meaning of it. Curling up into a tight ball, I fell asleep crying, and seemed to wake up months later.

When my brain became conscious of the world around me, a guard was yelling at me. "Hey! Hey! Wake up! You have a visitor!" I sat up, tucking the card into the jumpsuit pocket, and I was walked to the visitor center. Her head was bowed, nervously looking at something in her lap. I sat down, my hands set on the desk. She looked up, and when her eyes met mine, they formed tears instantly. "I-I'm sorry." She slid some of our old photos in the slot and I looked at them, biting my tongue to hold back the tears. My heart painfully ached once more, looking up at her. So she had retrieved her beloved ring from the police... I smiled, "It's not your fault." She blinked and rubbed her eye with the back of her hand, gripping the sleeve tightly in her hand. "It's a misunderstanding. It will be settled in court, I promise." I smiled at her and her lips twitched, as if trying to smile She took three books out of her bag and slid them through the slot one by one. "Hey, you remembered my favorite books..." She nodded, "I brought them too you, because I knew you'd be bored." I started to open one, "D-Don't open them now! Er, uh, well, I don't want that officer to see the letters I tucked in there for you." I smiled and nodded, gripping the books in one hand, and I was taken by the arm and hauled out. I heard faint sobbing, and a door slam. At least I got my visit.

The trial date finally came. (I was too nervous to recall the events, even though if I was seated only a row back.) All I remembered was the judge proclaiming me innocent and that I was free to go home, and Jess flinging herself over the row to embrace me happily. Next thing I knew was that I was helping take all of her stuff back to my old abode. I was so happy, I didn't feel any pain that might have stricken me as I moved them onto one of her friend's truckbed. We then sat together among it all, watching the sky pass above us, our fingers intertwined with each other. Once we sold all of what she didn't need (like her mattress, coffee table, but not her nightstand and desk.), we sat together on my couch like the old days before I got thrown in that hellhole they call a jail. The next thing I realized that she was asleep on my chest after some odd hours of talking. Smiling, I lifted her easily, walking to our bedroom and setting her down on the side she usually sleeps on and kissed her forehead. I entered the bathroom and flicked on the light, looking at myself in the mirror. Eh, the lines below my right eye got worse, but who cares? Out of the corner of my eye, I saw her roll over, "Luke...? Mmmn, hurry up and snuggle with me..." She smiled sleepily, yawning and rolling back over. I smiled and changed quickly, happily laying behind her and snuggling her, finally.


End file.
